


Someone who has everything

by 00Aredhel00



Category: Smallville
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Clark is a good friend, Fluff, Friendship, for once this is not slash, you can read it as pre-slash though if you want to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:33:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25863655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00Aredhel00/pseuds/00Aredhel00
Summary: What birthday gift do you choose for your best friend who happens to be a billionaire?
Relationships: Clark Kent & Lex Luthor
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	Someone who has everything

**Author's Note:**

> I can't seem to stop writing "Smallville" fics at the moment :D
> 
> As always: Sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language! 
> 
> Enjoy!

Doubtfully Clark looked down at the neatly packed gift in his hands.

At first it had seemed perfect, now he wasn’t so sure anymore.

It had all started on Monday. There had been a little article in the paper about past scandals of celebrities. Top 10 scandals of the past 10 years or something. Usually Clark didn’t care about stuff like that, but his father had pointed out to him that Lex was mentioned and of course Jonathan would have noticed that.

It was about the party Lex had thrown for his 20th birthday with as many guests as Luthor manor and the surrounding property just outside Metropolis could hold, the number varied from source to source, but most settled for over 1000 people (according to the paper, Lionel Luthor had been on a business trip and Lex had taken the chance). Some if these people had been celebrities, some other kids of rich parents, but mostly strangers. Further, the party had involved loads of alcohol and drugs and, of course, sex. Jonathan had looked at him as if this told him everything he needed to know about Lex Luthor and for a moment, Clark had been so mad at him. He didn’t know anything about Lex and in over two years of their friendship, Jonathan had made no attempt to change that. Judging someone for their name and family was so much easier, Clark remembered thinking.

But he hadn’t commented.

It would have been a waste of time, anyway.

It was not like he could have made his father understand that this wasn’t the Lex he knew and why the article made him sad instead of scandalized. Lex must have been pretty lonely when he had thought it was a good idea to spend his birthday with 1000 strangers and loose acquaintances, probably high as a kite and most likely mostly to piss his father off, instead of having a nice party with people he cared about and who cared about him. Clark had the feeling that there hadn’t been any such people back then.

The article had had another effect, though. He had found out when Lex’s birthday was which had given him exactly a week to find a gift.

A gift for a billionaire who had everything he could possibly want and who could buy everything he felt was missing without a second thought.

What had made things worse was that Clark had felt like the worst friend in the history of friends for never having wondered when Lex’s birthday was, it just had never occurred to him. After over two years of friendship - of which he had considered Lex his best friend for at least one year - and two missed birthdays that was a big fail.

So Clark had spent the week trying to find something nice to make up for it. He had had saved 300 dollars for nothing in particular, but although that was a lot of money for him it didn’t seem like a lot considering Lex’s extravagant taste. And Clark didn’t just want it to be anything at all, he wanted it to be special, something personal, something that showed that he had put thought behind it and that he knew what Lex liked. 

Finally, after he had almost given up all hope, he had found something in a little shop he had never paid much attention to: A high-quality construction set for a Porsche 911 Turbo model. Lex had the very same car, even in the same color, and Clark knew that it was one of his favorites. According to the box it looked really nice once assembled and Clark knew that Lex enjoyed putting things together. It was perfect!

The downside was that it cost 350 dollars.

So he had asked the owner of the shop to put it aside and begged his father to lend him 50 dollars. Jonathan had relented but after seeing what Clark had bought for it, that it was a gift for Lex, which had cost his son 350 dollars, he had looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “Clark, do you really think he’ll care about that? That’s nothing to him. He probably has a car like that in his garage, a real car. He’ll thank you politely and never think about it again. You could have had that much cheaper.”

After that Clark had felt silly and still did after getting out of the truck in front of Lex’s castle after school and chores. 

His father was probably right. What did a model for 350 dollars mean to Lex who was the proud owner of about 30 real sports cars?

All lights in the castle except for the entertainment room were out so there was definitely no big party this year and the staff had obviously already gone home, too.

Well, if the gift was a letdown, he at least wouldn’t let his friend spend his birthday alone.

It was already getting dark and when he approached the castle, the motion sensors automatically turned on the outdoor lighting.

That was when Clark first got a real look at the car he had parked behind.

It was a Mercedes … but what a Mercedes. Considering it was a sports car, he might have assumed it was Lex’s, but he didn’t think so. It was as far away from his taste as it gets. There was nothing classy about it, nothing elegant.

Fascinated, Clark stared at it. What had the designers been thinking?

No, he decided, that was definitely not Lex’s car. Maybe he had a guest after all? Maybe he should come back tomorrow? He would probably make even more of a fool out of himself, if he dropped off the Porsche model in front of one of Lex’s rich friends. Not that any rich friends had visited before, but obviously there had to be one …

The decision was taken out of his hands when he heard the castle door open and then Lex’s voice in a sarcastic tone. “Isn’t that the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Clark turned around to see Lex stand at the door, a glass of brandy in his hand, a wry smile on his lips.

“Will the owner kill me if I say yes?”

“I’m the owner. Dad had it delivered today. I swear that man has no taste in cars. I can’t even give it away. Who wants to be seen in that?”

So it was a birthday present from Lionel Luthor? Did this guy have no idea what his son liked? And he had it delivered? Was Lex’s birthday not reason enough to come here himself? Not that Lex wanted him here, but Clark couldn’t imagine his parents not wanting to see him on his birthday.

“If you stare at it any longer, you may go blind. Wanna come in?”

“Sure!”

Once inside, Lex looked at him questioningly and Clark just did what he would have done with any friend: He stepped forward and gave him a hug. “Happy Birthday!”

Lex seemed surprised – no wonder considering Clark had missed the previous two. But he got over it quickly, put the glass he was still holding on cabinet and returned the hug. “Thank you, Clark.” It sounded honest, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. 

When they parted, Clark gave him a sheepish smile and offered the wrapped box. His stomach fluttered nervously. “It’s nothing big,” he said almost apologetically.

“You didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I know. I wanted to.” 

With a small smile Lex took the box, went to the sofa and started to unwrap.

Again, Clark thought about his father’s words that this would mean nothing to someone like Lex and felt color rise to his cheeks. At least he knew Lex would be polite about it and they could move on, maybe to a game of pool or something.

What he hadn’t expected was the happy smile Lex gave him after getting rid of the wrapping. “Clark, that’s great, thank you!”

“Really, you like it?” Slowly, Clark relaxed and he felt his lips form a smile of his own.

“Of course I like it! I used to collect these. And it’s fun to put them together.”

“I had no idea. I hope you don’t have that one yet.” Finally, Clark sat down on the sofa next to his friend.

“Actually, I don’t have any anymore, Dad got rid of them after he sent me to rehab.”

Lex had spoken in the same dismissive way he always used when he made a comment on his relationship with his so-called father which regularly made Clark want to throw the man out of a window.

But he wasn’t here to dwell on Lionel Luther’s numerous failures as a father. “Well, then you have the start of a new collection now.”

Lex smiled at him, a broad, real smile that seemed to be reserved for Clark, and that was worth the day-long gift hunting and every cent he had spent. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“So … are you up for a game of pool or are you feeling too old for that now?”

It turned out Lex wasn’t feeling too old and the evening turned out to be so much fun that they both forgot all about time. Considering the next day was a school day, he was far beyond his curfew when he got home and it was all thanks to Martha that he didn’t end up grounded.

When he walked into Lex’s office a few days later, the first thing he noticed was the Porsche model standing next to the laptop.

**Author's Note:**

> The car Lionel gives to Lex is a Mercedes CLK GTR which is one of the ugliest sports cars I've ever seen (and I usually like Mercedes). It inspired me to write this story, though :D
> 
> I hope you like it!


End file.
